Which gear ratio to buy?
10-24-2005, 10:31 AM
#1
Heel & Toe
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Which gear ratio to buy?
I have a 77 corvette with a 383 stroker engine and turbo 350 transmission. I have a 3.08 gear right now and I can buy a 3.90 gear for cheap from a friend. I am wondering though if this would be too big of a gear and that I should spend the extra money on a 3.70 gear. Basically what I am saying, since I would like to drag race this car, would the 3.90 gear be good for a 1/4 mile car with approximately 400 horsepower with a redline of about 8000 rpms?
10-24-2005, 10:39 AM
#2
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Without a overdrive the 3.90 or even 3.70 will make the car useless on the open road. You have a redline of a stroker motor of 8000????
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
10-24-2005, 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by norvalwilhelm
Without a overdrive the 3.90 or even 3.70 will make the car useless on the open road. You have a redline of a stroker motor of 8000????
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
My motor and tranny is stock, a 3.55 is about as high as I would go with this combination.
10-24-2005, 11:18 AM
#6
Team Owner
I have 4.11 and never hit redline with 10X28 slicks in the 1/4. 4.30 is even better in a high rpm motor. Is this a whole pumpkin with 3.90? Because gears are cheap. The time and labor cost is what costs allot.
10-24-2005, 11:25 AM
#7
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Originally Posted by gkull
I have 4.11 and never hit redline with 10X28 slicks in the 1/4. 4.30 is even better in a high rpm motor. Is this a whole pumpkin with 3.90? Because gears are cheap. The time and labor cost is what costs allot.
The 700R turns the 4.11's into about 2.9 on the open road.
10-24-2005, 06:55 PM
#8
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I have the 3.7x something and wish I was around 3.36 or 3.55; I'm running 3200 rpm at 68-70 mph; in the Southwest temps, that puts more into the temps and the gas mileage than I would like.
10-25-2005, 11:51 AM
#9
Team Owner
Originally Posted by norvalwilhelm
George you also have a 700R for cruising on the highway. If you dropped the 700 and switched to a 350 would you still be happy with the 4.11's??
The 700R turns the 4.11's into about 2.9 on the open road.
The 700R turns the 4.11's into about 2.9 on the open road.
Then when you get tired of the drag racing figure out your next step to make it street functional again. I had a hot rod with 4.56 gears and drove it all over for 3-4 years with a non OD 4 speed. It was fun around town, but when I took 1000 mile trips it got old hearing that motor drown at high rpm on the freeways.
10-25-2005, 01:36 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
Originally Posted by page454
I have a 77 corvette with a 383 stroker engine and turbo 350 transmission. I have a 3.08 gear right now and I can buy a 3.90 gear for cheap from a friend. I am wondering though if this would be too big of a gear and that I should spend the extra money on a 3.70 gear. Basically what I am saying, since I would like to drag race this car, would the 3.90 gear be good for a 1/4 mile car with approximately 400 horsepower with a redline of about 8000 rpms?
10-25-2005, 01:46 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by norvalwilhelm
Without a overdrive the 3.90 or even 3.70 will make the car useless on the open road. You have a redline of a stroker motor of 8000????
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
Without a overdrive I wouldn't go with anything more then 3.55
A stroker driven to 8K RPM? 
My Nova had 3:08's until I built the motor for it. I put a 12-bolt rear end under it, then set it up with 4:11's - I regretted it until I sold the car. It was fun at stop lights but that's about it.
I had a '56 Bel Air when I was a kid ... the pumpkin rear end was easy to change out so I had a 4:56 pumpkin and the OEM one too. I'd swap the gears before the saturday night races...until I blew up the OEM gears and had to use the 4:56's all the time. What a terror that smallblock was between stoplights! But even though that li'l 283 had an 8500 redline and 11.5 compression, I still hated driving her on the freeway. And that was back when gas was cheap! And good.
